aherculeanheart

8/10

Listening to Alfonso Cuaron talk about the process of filmmaking is always treat, but watching him discuss making Roma is an intimate look at him, not only as a director, but as a person. Roma is the visual manifestation of the most impactful period in his childhood. That which shaped who he became. The general breakdowns of his process is fascinating, as he goes through the filming itself, but also how trying to visually represent snippets of memory into a cohesive story slowly took a life of its own, often times becoming grander than what he had expected. Creating Roma was about layering Cuaron's memories of his childhood (by recreating the exact locations he lived in), the social and economic dualities of Mexico in the 1970s (which still impact the country today) as seen via the two worlds lived in the home (of Cleo and her bosses), and creating a cohesive story that is mostly prompt and improvissasion while also conveying acute details in the narrative. The more Cuaron discusses the filming and general creative process of Roma, the more you see this film as a personal journey for Cuaron in order to connect and come to terms with a part of his past. As with all art, the creator must bare his soul to share a deeply personal story that is so much about the human experience that it becomes universal for all who lay eyes on it. Note: as the credits role, Cuaron breakdown a technical framing of light, or rather the use of backlighting, to a group of extras. This moment seems to encompass Cuaron as a director: always trying to connect with another person.